Abelt Dessler
: leader of the militant people of the dying planet Gamilas. Space Battleship Yamato Dessler intends to wipe out the human "barbarians" and migrate his people to Earth. Initially contemptuous of humanity and its struggles to survive, he comes to respect the Yamato as it surpasses endless trials on its journey to Iscandar. He even attempts to use his dying, volcanically-active planet as a weapon against the Earth ship, but the ensuing battle results in the near-total destruction of his civilization, and he swears revenge. Apparently killed at the end of the first season when his Dessler cannon backfires and destroys his flagship. Space Battleship Yamato 2 He re-emerges in the second season having been resuscitated by the advanced medicine of the Comet Empire. Emperor Zwordar grants him the chance to destroy the Yamato, but ultimately he comes to realize that his desire for revenge has made him no better than the Comet Empire, who live solely for conquest; it is Yuki Mori's attempt to protect a wounded Susumu Kodai that convinces him that humans are capable of the same love he feels for his people, and he withdraws from battle, aiming to rebuild his civilization. Before departing off in the Comet Empire series, he shares an important detail about a potential weakness in the White Comet. Yamato: The New Voyage Although initially an enemy to Earth, he informs Earth Defense Force of the dire situation planet Iscandar was in when he returned to Gamilus to find the Black Nebula Force mining for resources to fuel their war machine. He later becomes an ally of the Yamato when Iscandar was plunged into warp and when the Black Nebula Force pursued Iscandar threatening Starsha after Gamilus exploded. Working together with the crew of Yamato, his bitterness lifted and he acclaimed his love for Starsha. Starsha however sacrifices herself and her planet to stop the giant Gobra sent to secure the planet's resources for war purposes. Because of her sacrifice, Dessler had a renewed sensation of love and peace he had never realized was inside his heart. He departs at the end of the battle on a good term with Earth and Yamato. Space Battleship Yamato III A couple of years after the destruction of Gamilas, Dessler wanders the Milky Way Galaxy, and finds his ancestral home planet Galman which is occupied by the Bolar Federation. He quickly amounts a counter-attack to free his people, and in doing so proclaims himself as the new Emperor who is set on ridding the galaxy of the cruel Bolars. However, because of his quick quest to secure the entire Milky Way Galaxy, his officers had become war-mongerers who would use planet destroying hyperion missiles to eliminate any enemy or resistance. One such missile had gone astray and entered into Earth's Sun causing accelerated nuclear fusion to the point that the Sun was to collapse in less than a year. Unaware of the situation his forces had caused to Earth, Yamato was sent to search for a new suitable planet for Mankind. The crew of Yamato was hit by Dessler's Galman forces when they intervened a neighboring system called Birth when fighting broke there. Because of the intervention, Galman officers and generals made it a top priority to destroy or capture the ship. Yamato was literally captured inside a super hangar of the Galman Eastern Task Force fortress, and taken to be presented to Dessler after losing many ships and men. Upon presentation, Dessler blew up into a fury over his general's negligence to his orders to stay far from Earth's solar system, and apologized to the crew of Yamato. He then learned about how his own war machine was the reason Yamato was dispatched to search for a new home planet to emigrate to, and how his own forces delayed and caused much damage to the Sun. He offers to help Earth by dispatching his own fleet of scientists who could restore the proper nuclear fusion to the Sun. This however proves to be futile as the Sun worsens from their manipulation. Out of scientific ideas, he provides coordinates to a planet like Earth called Phantom. Phantom however was not a suitable planet, as it was a living organism able to project itself as a planet to protect Queen Luda from the Bolars. Upon Yamato's discovery of this fact, Queen Luda is escorted and protected by the crew of Yamato to her home planet Shalubart where she offers the hydro-cosmo-pen-cannon to correct the Sun's erratic nuclear fusion. Dessler following Yamato learns of the Queen's homeplanet, and although he doesn't conquer the planet, he nevertheless adds planet Shalubart to his empire to sway the all people of the galaxy (Galman and Bolar) towards peace as her people's culture are pacifists and peace-talkers. Stability and peace is spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Final Yamato It is however not until the Dingir people who try to conquer Earth using Aquarius to bring massive floods where Dessler performs one last helping assistance for Earth and Yamato when the ship itself was converted into an H-bomb and could not fire at the enemy surrounding her. Apparently, Dessler was away on a mission when a galaxy from a different dimension manifests and collides with the Milky Way Galaxy turning his imperial city into a graveyard. When he returned, he had found white roses left behind by the crew of Yamato. Wearing one of the white roses on his uniform, he informs the Yamato crew that he understood their dire situation and Earth, and eliminated the Dingir people who were about to open fire on the helpless bomb converted ship. In the last scene where Yamato ultimately self destructs to break a 10 trillion ton water column from hitting Earth, Dessler is found atop his ship with tears around his eyes as he watches Yamato settle in an ocean in space. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 In the year 2094 or 2095, this young Gamilas assumes the crown of the Great Gamilas Empire. At some point prior to 2199, he meets Queen Starsha Iscandar and proposes the reunification of her empire and his Great Gamilas Empire, a proposition that the queen accepts. After this meeting, he begins his war of expansion, and by the year 2199, he successfully unites the Magellanic Clouds, and is invading the Milky Way Galaxy. In the ninety-fifth year of his reign over the Great Gamilas Empire, a fleet makes first contact with Earth, and he puts Walke Shultz in charge of that planet's conquest. Many years later, in the days leading up to the one thousand year anniversary of the founding of the Great Gamilas Empire, he is contacted by Shultz, who informs his leader about the space battleship Yamato's destruction. To this Dessler replies by asking why Shultz would report such an obvious victory, but reassures the colonel that he would remember his loyalty. However, after Dessler learns of the destruction of Shultz's base by the Yamato, he exiles Shultz from the Empire until he can destroy the Yamato. Notes *His Japanese name is believed to come from Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, and Dessler's title is the Japanese translation of führer. Leiji Matsumoto has claimed this similarity is in fact a coincidence, and that Dessler comes from "Death-Ra" (also written as デスラー in Japanese). *Desler have shown multiple times to be immune to the vacuum of space. An alternate idea is that his ship's hull have an air pocket where he could stand on. Whether this is an animation shorthand or otherwise, it is not known. *He also has an uncanny ability to escape death within the media. This is best seen throughout seasons 1 and 2 of the original series, as well as in Final Yanato. *He was in his 103rd year of reign over Gamilas in 2199, so his corination would have been in 2095-2096, and he would be at least 133 years old (30 years is reasonable time to rise to the top of an empire and for his childhood to happen) *Dessler's empire has a symbol that resembles very much like a swastika, used by Nazi Germany. ja:デスラー Desler Abelt